Marine microbes play an important role in all marine environments. AIMS is investigating the functions they provide in tropical marine ecosystems and what benefits and insights they might offer and what role they play in helping reefs to adapt to threats such as climate change.
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A number of variables can cause signficant changes in the human microbiome early in life including birth method and antibiotic exposure. Understanding these shifts is important because new research suggests that shifts in the microbiome of infants could make them more prone to gain weight as adu...
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Vincent Racaniello accepts the Peter Wildy Prize for Microbiology Education, awarded annually by the Society for General Microbiology for an outstanding contribution to microbiology education. Filmed at the Dublin Convention Centre in Dublin, Ireland.
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The health of humans, animals, and the environment are inextricably interconnected. Disruption of the environment often creates new niches for the evolution of infectious diseases, and provides opportunities for the transmission of pathogens to animals or humans. The majority of infectious disea...
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The NIH Human Microbiome Project has been a 5-year endeavor to produce community resources to support the field of human microbiome research. Although the HMP has already produced hundreds of peer-reviewed publications, in the past week 2 major HMP Consortium papers as well as 20+ companion pap...
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Traditionally, colonization of a host has been described in terms of a microbial community that does not affect the host, but recent research (such as the Human Microbiome Project) suggests that colonizing microbes are having an effect not only on the host, but on each other. Participants discu...
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Large concentrations bacteria identified in the nuclei of hailstones suggest that airborne microorganisms may be responsibility for the formation of these weather events. Participants will discuss these findings as well as the implications they may have for understanding of the role microbes pl...
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This animation starts with the explanation of bacterial cell wall synthesis, the process targeted by ß-Lactams.
Structurally, most bacteria consist of a cell membrane surrounded by a cell wall and, for some bacteria, an additional outer layer. Internal to the cell membrane is the cytoplasm whi...
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The ability of bacteria to be genetically manipulated in a directed way has permitted the application of bacterial metabolism and gene expression to the creation of products useful in a wide variety of domains, including alternative energy generation, novel and manipulatable pathways for antibio...
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Over a year after the largest oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists are still investigating the role microorganisms play in cleaning up the mess, both on land and at sea. Participants will discuss the latest research, what we have learned and what we still do not know.

Explore Research at the University of Florida: Keith Schneider, an Associate Professor of Food Science and Human Nutrition at the University of Florida, explains what made him want to become a scientist originally, and what he enjoys about his career and research now.
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In as little as 100 generations, yeast selected to settle more quickly through a test tube evolved into multicellular, snowflake-like clusters, according to a paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Over the course of the experiment, the clusters evolved to be larger,...
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Clostridium difficile infection is an important cause of intestinal disease, primarily affecting hospitalized patients exposed to antibiotics. Infection has been associated with prolonged hospital stays and excess healthcare expenditures.Recent changes in epidemiology of this disease show a rise...
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For a holiday card, my wife and I made a Christmas Tree with bioluminescent ornaments. The video shows how the tree looks in natural light, and then by its own light. The bacterium is Photobacterium leiognathi, isolated by Ned Ruby and Eric Stabb in Hawai'i. This is another example of where mi...
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Leaking septic systems or manure from adjacent rural properties are the two most common sources of fecal contamination of a well. The University of Wisconsin Water Resources Institute is funding a new research project to refine a methodology to determine the source of well water contamination.
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